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Wilma Rudolph

Wilma Rudolph was born prematurely on June 23, 1940 in St. Bethlehem, Tenn., just outside Clarksville. She weighed 4½ pounds. The bulk of her childhood was spent in bed. At four, she was diagnosed with polio and lost the use of her left leg. Doctors doubted that she would ever walk, let alone run. At age six, Wilma was fitted with metal leg braces.

Reflecting on her early years, Wilma has said,

"I spent most of my time trying to figure out how to get them off. But when you come from a large, wonderful family, there's always a way to achieve your goals."

Against All Odds,

She Was Determined To Be “A Normal Kid”

Wilma Rudolph grew up in a poor family, the 20th of her father Ed's 22 children (from two marriages). Although she never shared a home with all her siblings and half-siblings at once, there were still plenty of brothers and sisters to serve as "lookouts" if she mischievously removed her braces. They took turns massaging her crippled leg every day. Once a week her mother Blanche, a domestic worker, drove her 90 miles round trip to a Nashville hospital for therapy.

Years of treatment and a determination to be a "normal kid" worked. Despite whooping cough, measles and chicken pox, Rudolph was out of her leg braces at age nine and soon became a budding basketball star.

From All-State In Basketball

To A Bronze Medal In The ’56 Olympics

When Wilma was 11, her brothers set up a basketball hoop in the yard. "After that," her mother said, "it was basketball, basketball, basketball." In junior high, she followed her older sister Yolanda's example and joined the basketball team. The coach, Clinton Gray, didn't put her in a single game for three years. Finally, in her sophomore year, she became the starting guard. Rudolph went on to become an all-state player, setting a state record by scoring 49 points in one game.

During the state basketball tournament, Wilma was spotted by Ed Temple, a sociology professor and unpaid coach for the famous Tigerbells, the women's track team at Tennessee State University. Because Burt High School didn't have the funding for a track team, coach Temple invited Wilma to Tennessee State for a summer sports camp.

Wilma loved it, and began attending Temple's daily college practices while still in high school. Temple's dedication was inspiring. He drove the team to meets in his own car and had the school track, an unmarked and unsurfaced dirt oval, lined at his own expense. At age 16, while still in high school, Wilma Rudolph went to the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia where she won a bronze medal in the 4x4 relay.

"The Black Gazelle"

Wins 3 Gold Medals In The ’60 Olympics

After graduating from high school, Wilma received a full scholarship to Tennessee State where she continued running. At 5-foot-11 and 130 pounds, she was lightning fast. Wilma watchers in the late fifties and early sixties were admonished: don't blink. You might miss her. And that would be a shame.

At the 1960 Rome Olympics, Wilma Rudolph became "the fastest woman in the world" and the first American woman to win three track-and-field gold medals in one Olympics. She won the 100- and 200-meter races and anchored the U.S. team to victory in the 4 x 100-meter relay, breaking records along the way.

The press and fans in Rome flocked to her and newspapers called her "The Black Gazelle." After the Olympics, when the team competed in Greece, England, Holland and Germany, it was the charming and beautiful Rudolph that fans flocked to watch perform. Sports Illustrated magazine reported that mounted police had to keep back her admirers in Cologne. In Berlin, fans surrounded her bus and beat on it with their fists until she waved.

"She's done more for her country than what the U.S. could have paid her for," Temple said. But, she did more than promote her country. In her soft-spoken, gracious manner, she paved the way for African-American athletes, both men and women, who came later.

Because of all the celebrity attention she received from her track career, Wilma took a year off from her studies to compete in international track events and make appearances. She returned and received a Bachelor's degree in education, graduating in 1963.

But, She Says Her Greatest Accomplishment

Is Helping Others Triumph

After retiring from track competition, Wilma returned to Clarksville to live. She taught at her old school, Cobb Elementary, and was the track coach at her alma mater, Burt High School, replacing her old coach, Clinton Gray, who, tragically, had been killed in an auto accident. But small town life proved to be too conservative after all her worldly experiences. She moved on to coaching positions, first in Maine, and then, Indiana. She was invited to be the guest speaker at dozens of schools and universities. She also went into broadcasting and became a sports commentator on national television and the co-host of a network radio show.

In 1967 Vice-President Hubert Humphrey invited Wilma to participate in "Operation Champ," an athletic outreach program for underprivileged youth in the ghettos of 16 major cities. She started her own non-profit organization, The Wilma Rudolph Foundation, to continue this kind of work. The foundation provided free coaching in a variety of sports, and academic assistance and support as well. In 1977 she wrote her autobiography, simply titled, "Wilma", which was later adapted as a television movie.

Wilma Rudolph spent years traveling the country telling her story and teaching children the power of hard work, determination and self-belief in achieving one's goals. "I tell them," she said, "that the most important thing is to be yourself and have confidence in yourself ... and, I remind them that triumph can't be had without struggle."

On Nov. 12, 1994 in Nashville, Wilma Rudolph died of brain cancer at the age of 54. Her extraordinary calm and grace are what people remember most about Wilma Rudolph. As Bill Mulliken, a 1960 Olympics teammate put it: "She was beautiful, she was nice, and she was the best."